Could Be Dreaming
by xSummersx
Summary: Ariel rescues Eric from the shipwreck that almost claims his life. What happens when she decides not to leave his side when he wakes?
1. Chapter 1

Readers,

Hello again everyone! Sorry this is way overdue. I am writing this author's note to tell you all a few things. First off, I will be posting a one shot as the next chapter of this story and I needed you all to read this first for a little understanding about it.

It will be about the scene where Ariel rescues Eric from drowning and drags him to shore. I am rewriting that scene to how I would have liked it to have gone. To be completely honest with you, I believe 100% that Ariel was going to stay with Eric even if he woke, if it were not for Max and Grim's sudden appearance so that is what this is about; what would have happened if she stayed?

I also wanted to thank everyone for the reviews on my first completed story 'Faithful Night'. I was very happy how that turned out and just wanted to say thank ya!

So I will do my best to get this up as soon as I can. I'm also juggling a few term papers and preparing to open up the collegiate golf season but I'll do my best.

Thanks everyone!

-xSummersx


	2. Could Be Dreaming

**Hey guys! Thanks for being patient and thanks for the input on what you thought when I wrote the Author's Note on this. Hope you enjoy and God Bless!**

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She was only sixteen years old and by mermaid standards she was not very strong and was rather smaller in stature. So how she was able to swim all the way to shore with this rather heavy human was beyond her. The storm had long passed and the waves were easier to go through so she was thankful. She didn't understand much about humans but knew that they couldn't survive underwater so she made it a point to keep his head above the waves as she moved closer to a small distant island that was nothing more than sand and a few palm trees and rocks.

After what seemed like forever to the young mermaid, she finally reached the shores and had quite a fun time dragging the unconscious man ashore. Once he was a safe distance from the lapping waves, she collapsed with exhaustion and stared up at the sky that started to give way to the sun that was trying to shine through the thick cloud cover. She was breathing heavily and rubbing her sore arms that were shaking slightly.

"Ariel!" the Jamaican voice hit her ears. "What are you tinking!"

She gave a sigh and propped herself up on her elbows to face him and Flounder.

"Sebastian I don't want to hear it."

"What is your fadder gonna say!"

She rolled her eyes and lowered herself to the sand fully to rest her arms again while looking at the crab and fish.

"If you don't say anything than he won't," she said simply.

He went off on a tangent then and she chose to completely ignore him. Once she had recouped herself she turned and finally gave her attention back to the young prince. She inched close to him until she was leaning over him.

"Is he…dead?" she turned to Sebastian.

He stared at her in shock that she had asked him about that and at how close she was; of course how much closer could you get than carrying him to shore? Regardless, he was still very unsettled at the situation at hand. Not getting a response from him she turned back to Eric and hoped he was okay.

She let out a huge sigh of relief when he suddenly took in a small, long, breath.

"No look!" she exclaimed. "He's breathing."

She brought her hand up finally and moved a strand of hair from his face and then held his cheek.

"He's so beautiful," she said in a daze-like state.

She knew it then that she was in love with this human. She moved his face to 'look' at her and she began to sing to him. Flounder actually smiled a little but Sebastian just continued to gape at Ariel in complete disbelief of what she was doing. The clouds overhead began to fade and move and soon, a ray of sunlight came through like a spotlight and bathed the two in light. All at once, she saw his eyelids flutter and he took in a breath as a smile fell upon his features.

She felt herself smile through her singing and then her breath almost caught when she noticed his eyes were now slightly open and that his smile was directed at her. She sang out the rest of her song and smiled even further at the feeling of his hand over the one she hand to his face. For a moment that was how they stayed, just staring at each other in wonder, as their smiles never left their features.

"Are you okay?"

The moment her voice hit him again he was once again in awe of how beautiful and peaceful it sounded to him.

"You saved me," he said finally.

He then tried to sit up and she quickly helped him. The moment his body found it was moving to a different position he let out a groan of pain and then started to cough up water. Once he was finally sitting up and that was when his eyes fell upon her fin in plain view.

"…mermaid…" he coughed up in surprise, still trying to clear his lungs of water.

"Take it easy," she rubbed his back.

At the moment she didn't care that he just made the realization that she was a mermaid, she was more concerned with his coughing.

"…you're a mermaid," he continued to choke out.

Eventually, his coughing settled down and he then turned to see her face inches from him as the sun poured into her from behind, not to mention she was rather close to his face.

Needless to say, his breath caught the moment he was able to completely take in her beauty and for a while he found himself staring. He thought he would find himself unable to stop staring at her fin but for the moment he couldn't look away from her face. Her hair was the likes of which he had never seen before; it was the wildest shade of red. And then her eyes…blue of the sea and they were electric. It was as if they were piercing him to his core but they were soft and gentle at the same time.

" Are you sure you're okay?" she placed her hand to his cheek and once again zapped him from his staring episode.

His hand moved on its own to take hers from his face but he held it in between them.

"Yes," he said, his eyes once again falling on her fin. "…but you're a –"

"Mermaid," she finished the statement for him with a nod. "Yes I know."

She smiled a little and he felt himself smile too.

"Sorry," he then added.

She giggled a little bit.

"It's okay."

He moved a little and crossed his legs and looked at her again.

"Thank you," he smiled and she looked at him. "For saving my life."

She smiled.

"Your welcome, Eric."

He paused at the sound of his name.

"You know my name?"

At this she also stopped and then blushed a little bit. Dare she tell him that she had been practically spying on him all night? He noticed her blush and had to ask why.

"Umm…I saw you and your friends on your ship and I overheard…your name?" she finished in question.

"Ship," he repeated. "Oh crap!"

He quickly got to his feet, well as quickly as he could though he was very unsteady on his feet, and put his hands to his head and looked around.

"Ship…what happened to everyone?" he looked down at her.

"They all got off the ship in time but you weren't so lucky."

She was watching as he continually ran his hand through his hair as he seemingly tried to remember what happened.

"Where are we?"

"I don't know," she said and looked around. "I just pulled you to the nearest place I could."

He had to sit down then as he was still drained and walking around aimlessly was definitely not helping. Noticing his sudden distress Ariel looked on and couldn't help but wonder if she was the reason he was so upset.

"I'm sorry," she said with uncertainty.

He turned to looked at her.

"Why?"

"For not knowing where we are…I was so concerned for you that I just—"

He cut her off when he rushed over and knelt down beside her, taking her hand in his.

"Hey it's not your fault. I'm thankful to you…because of you I'm alive."

After he had done that, he paused and couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed at his sudden and random actions. He didn't know why, but he felt compelled to make her understand he was not mad at her. But why? Why did he care so much?

And on top of that, why was it that when she smiled in response to his gesture, that he couldn't stop the smile that formed on his own face; also that he didn't want to leave her side.

"You know I never did ask you your name?" he said, still holding her hand.

She blushed at the contact and how close she was to him.

"It's Ariel."

The name itself was as curious and enticing as she was and he said it a few times as if to test it.

"Ariel…well that's kinda pretty."

She felt her face continue to grow hotter and for a moment she had to look away. He saw what he was doing to her and he gave a shy smile of his own before sitting down beside her completely, and still holding her hand.

"I guess all we can do now is wait," he let out a sigh.

"Wait?"

"For people to come find us…well me at least," he gave a laugh.

She giggled a little bit and he thought over the comment.

"You know…I'm still completely shocked that I'm talking to a mermaid right now."

"Well I'm just as shocked to be talking to a human, Eric," she said with a flip of her hair and a look to him.

They both laughed and he nodded.

"Good point…so…do you just live down there?" he motioned to the sea.

"Well yes…that is how it works," she said as if it were the most obvious thing.

"Well sorry," he put his hand up in mock surrender. "It's not really that obvious to me."

She nodded.

"Right. Sorry."

The famous veil of silence fell over them once again.

"So what's it like living down there?" he finally asked the question he had been wanting to for a while.

She laughed and looked at him.

"I was going to ask you that," she moved and tucked her fin to her side.

His eyes watched her move her fin and then he looked back at her.

"Well…I don't really know how to explain it," she started, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "I guess it's really cool," she said goofily. "Eric I don't know how to explain it!"

He laughed and nodded.

"That's okay…I guess I wouldn't know how to explain it either."

They sat and talked for a while before Ariel's attention was brought back to the sun. The clouds had long since taken their leave from the sky and the sun had been free to dominate the sky. It had drawn Ariel's attention because her skin had never been exposed to the direct sun for this long and her skin was now giving her a sensation that was alien to her. She started to rub at her arms and glance at the sun.

"What's wrong?" his hand gave hers a squeeze.

"I need to get back in the water."

"Oh…are you okay?" he said quickly, thinking maybe she was in big trouble.

He didn't know anything about mermaids, but he knew that they lived in the water so for a moment he thought she had been out for too long.

"Yes, I'm fine," she laughed, easing his worry. "But the sun is irritating me."

She made a move to start inching towards the water and he then decided he would help. She gave a gasp of surprise when he suddenly lifted her up.

"I think this would be faster," he smiled down at her.

Of course her face turned bright red at the contact. He waded in the water until he was waist deep and gently lowered her down and released her.

"Thank you, Your Highness," she mock bowed to him.

"Ah don't give me that," he waved her off with a laugh. "I get enough of that as it is."

"Yeah me too. I know how it can get," she gave a knowing roll of her eyes.

At this he looked at her and dared to ask the question.

"…does that mean…you're…a princess or something?"

"Oh yeah…I don't like to think I am but I guess…yeah."

She finished with an awkward shrug of her shoulders.

"For real?" he said in surprise. "They have royalty down there too?"

"Hey," she nudged him. "I was just as surprised to know you did up here."

He laughed for a moment and then shook his head.

"Okay. No more assumptions for either of us deal?" he said, extending his hand to hers.

She stared at him for a moment and then at his hand and then back at him with confusion.

"What?"

He paused and then laughed once again.

"Okay, that was kind of hypocritical of me as well!"

"I'm not getting the joke…"

He shook his head.

"It's okay, Ariel. I was going to shake your hand to seal the deal. It's something we do up here."

She tilted her head to the side.

"That's so strange."

"What do you do?" he then asked.

"…well we usually just bow to each other."

(**A/N:** just think of the Asian culture on this one) (And just so we are 100% clear on this, no I am NOT insulting their culture) (….just needed to make that clear)

"Okay," he then bent forward in a small bow. "Got it."

She let out a laugh at his gesture and then bowed herself. He stretched out a moment and let out a sigh.

"I wonder how long it will take for people to start searching for me?" he turned to her.

She bit her lip at his comment and looked out to sea.

"They will come right?"

He shrugged.

"Oh who knows," he laughed. "I never know about Grim."

"Grim?"

"He's my advisor. If anyone is organizing any sort of a search party to find me it would be him…and that," he put his finger up to emphasize. "…doesn't really make me feel any better."

"Oh…sorry?" she shrugged with a smile.

He shook his head and smiled back to her, once again taking his hand and putting it over hers.

"It's okay. I'm not in any hurry."

Instead of looking away in shyness that time, Ariel boldly returned his smile and felt him lace his fingers with hers. With her commitment to look at him this time Eric found he couldn't, and wouldn't, look away. His eyes went from her lips to her eyes. He had wanted to kiss her for a while now and the moment was starting to present itself. Slowly, he started to move in and was ecstatic when she started to close her eyes in acceptance of the gesture.

They got so close they could feel each others breath but both were jerked out of the moment when a very loud bell sounded in the distance and they both turned to see a large ship coming in their direction. Instinctively, Ariel quickly disappeared beneath the waves and Eric felt two things. Yeah, he was pissed! He was so close. And inwardly he found it hilarious that when help finally did come he was upset about it. Second, he was afraid for Ariel due to her reaction. She had shown herself to him so it didn't really dawn on him yet that she didn't want any others to see her.

"Ariel what's wrong?" he shouted somewhat and splashed around to get her to come back. "They're my crew. They're here to rescue me not hurt you."

She rose up just enough to get her head out of the water.

"It's not that…I just can't be seen."

He felt dumb for not having figured that out right away and gave a nod.

"So I guess you're okay now," she said biting her lip, knowing they were close to saying goodbye.

Eric caught the tone of deflation in her words and also felt bad knowing farewells were close. He then thought of something.

"They are going to take me back home…can you follow and then I can properly say goodbye and thank you at least when we are there?"

She studied him a moment and then nodded before going under again. The ship reached him swiftly and he was brought on board with cheers and thankful whistles that he had somehow survived the explosion of the ship and then the rough waves and condition of the sea following the night's storm. Hell they had a heck of a good time getting back to shore in their little boat so it was easy to see how they were completely shocked beyond words for his safety.  
"Eric you really delight in these sadistic strains on my blood pressure, don't you?" Grimsby put his hand on the boy's shoulder. (**A/N:** when I watched this when I was little it took me FOREVER to figure out what Grimsby was talking about when he said this line in the movie)

He laughed and gave a nod.

"I've got someone watching over me, Grim," he put on a knowing smile.

"I would definitely say you do! Carlotta has been worried sick about you so when you get home I apologize in advance."

He rolled his eyes, knowing full well what the motherly housekeeper was going to do upon seeing him alive. He wasn't gonna have a second to himself for a while.

Pushing those thoughts aside, he grew with anticipation as his palace came into view and he knew he would be seeing Ariel soon. He had no intention of saying goodbye to her forever.

Never in his life had he met a girl that captivated him like she had, and he only had known her for what… couple hours! There was something about her that was absolutely mesmerizing and it wasn't just her beauty (though he really liked that too : o).

Most of the time you feel affection towards a person for saving their life but with him that was the last thing he thought of as a reason why he needed to see her again. It was just her that he needed, plain and simple.

Finally he reached the shores of his home. He wasted no time in getting off the ship, only to be stopped right away by a crying Carlotta.

"Oh dear I'm so relieved!" she shouted and flung her arms around him. "You had me so worried but no time for that! Let's get you inside and feed you and draw you a bath."

"Hold on Carlotta," he stopped her. "I need a moment out here."

"Nonsense you need a week in bed!" she countered and started pushing him along.

"Please?" he asked sincerely.

She stopped with a huff and put her hands on her hips.

"Well all right. Honestly I don't know what you could want with being by the sea right now after all it's put you through!" she started walking back to the palace. "I'll fix you a meal and get your bath ready but you better hurry up!"

He laughed and turned back to Grimsby when he reached him.

"I'll be up in a moment. Just try and calm her down for me too?" he asked with some pleading in his voice.

After reading Grimsby's question look he replied, "I just need a minute."

"Very well. As you wish. But you owe me," he said with a wave of his hand as he headed up to the palace.

Finally he was left alone. Not really knowing where Ariel was, but hoping she was watching him somehow, he made his away across the beach and around a few corners until he was out of view from the palace and completely guarded behind a grove of rocks.

Almost as soon as he had got there, Ariel slowly appeared out of the water and flashed him a smile when he quickly waded out to her. Shocking her, and quite possibly himself, he quickly took her into his arms and kissed her fully. She gave a quick sound of surprise but threw her arms around him happily and kissed him back. She felt him smile as they shared many kisses before breaking apart. She merely stared at him breathlessly and he gave a laugh.

"Sorry," he said, slightly embarrassed by his sudden actions. "But truthfully I've been wanting to do that for a while now."

He also found the statement to be rather embarrassing as well but Ariel smiled at him nonetheless.

"Me too," she laughed.

They stayed in each others embrace after the kiss and just smiled to one another for a moment.

"Ariel I have to leave right now but I would like to see you again."

The statement warmed her more than he could have ever known and she pressed herself to him in an embrace and he held her close.

"I would love that!" she exclaimed upon pulling back to look at him.

"At sundown tonight…same place then?" he asked.

She nodded quickly and he gave her another kiss that they broke slowly.

"I love you."

He grinned from ear to ear at the statement and repeated the words before reluctantly letting her go. He slowly headed back up to his palace, finally realizing how pained his body was. It was aching all over, how the heck didn't he notice! Well, then again he could see how he didn't. His body may be worn out and heavy, but his heart was flying over cloud nine.

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**Done, cool. Now actually, I have mixed feelings about this one. For a while I hated it but kept going with what I wrote and then started to like it but now don't really know so I really want to hear some input. I felt like I was just drabbling the whole darn thing out. Oh well, at least it's out there. Hope you all enjoy. Seriously, let me know what you think! God Bless!! : D**


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